In  autumn 2010 Komedia Bath won the Chortle Award for Best Comedy Venue in the West & Wales 2010. At a star-studded awards ceremony in London – hosted by comedy genius Mark Watson – Komedia walked away with the coveted award, beating many well-established venues across the West for the title.

“We have had a fantastic first 16 months – acts already love playing the venue and people have told us we have made their lives better by opening in Bath. This is the main and only industry venue award out there, and coupling this with our Brighton venue winning the Chortle Award for Best Comedy Venue in the South for a record seven times… well, we couldn’t be happier!”

– Richard Daws, Director and Komedia co-owner

Although big touring music acts, such as The Levellers and Seth Lakeman, and top comedians such as Russell Howard, John Bishop, Reginald D Hunter have all taken to the stage – the Bath venue is chiefly famed for its weekly stand-up comedy in the Krater Comedy Club. Having been described as bringing about ‘a brand new dawn for entertainment in Bath’ by VENUE, Komedia gives customers the option to wine and dine prior to, and during, the weekend comedy club – Komedia has the perfect food partner for the South West with Hugh Fernley Whittingstall’s River Cottage Canteen in house – as well as hosting Motorcity; a civilised and popular club straight after the show, which is free to Krater Comedy Club ticket holders. All this and more in the impressive and lovingly restored grade one listed venue!

Komedia Bath is the first Komedia-branded venue launched outside of Brighton, Sussex. Presenting a large and diverse arts and entertainment programme, the venue features international and national music, comedy, cabaret and unique film and dining events whilst also playing host every Saturday (and selected Fridays) to the all-conquering sell-out night Krater Comedy Club.

The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. As of 2002, the Chortle Awards are the only UK based awards that solely honour the live work of stand-up comedians at a professional level. The judging is done through a panel of judges and the votes of regular visitors at the Chortle website

Chortle Awards
Komedia broke records in February 2008 as the venue walked away with the Chortle Award for Best Comedy Venue in the South for an incredible sixth time.

Chortle Awards
Komedia’s Krater Comedy Club co-founder and regular compere beat strong competition to walk away with the Chortle Award for Best Compere – in the whole of the UK!

Last night Komedia, Brighton scored a double win at the 2008 Chortle Awards, walking away with the award for Best Comedy Venue in the South for a record sixth time, whilst resident compere of the venue’s popular Krater Comedy Club Stephen Grant won the title of ‘Best Compere’. The star-studded awards ceremony on Monday 25 February was hosted by Grumpy Old Men star Arthur Smith and held in London’s Bar AKA.

Komedia, famed for it’s popular weekly stand-up comedy the Krater Comedy Club, has been described as ‘THE place in Brighton to catch stand-up comedy’ by The Independent, attracting top comedy acts such as Catherine Tate, Ross Noble, Reginald D Hunter, Mark Watson and Gina Yashere in the past.

Stephen Grant – co-founder, compere and programmer of the Krater Comedy Club for nine years – was gobsmacked to win his award; “I was absolutely over the moon just to be nominated, as this was the first time any performer outside of the capital had been recognised. I was flabbergasted – so much so that I barely made an acceptance speech – for the first time in my life, I couldn’t think what to say! Compering is quite a unique skill and is only really revered within the comedy industry itself, so this is the only award ceremony in the UK that recognises this ability. The fact that I was nominated by the top UK comedy judges and voted for by fellow performers and comedy fans everywhere makes it all the more pleasing. I’m ecstatic!”

He places the secret of the venue’s success at the quality of the acts, “Krater, for example, is such a quality night as we get the best acts on the circuit to perform. In the past we’ve had Jimmy Carr doing spots and Ricky Gervais filling in on a Sunday! It’s also down to the audience: the Brighton crowd are great and really respectful to the acts!”

Komedia thrives on diversity and specialises in nurturing talent and promoting new work, evident in the venue’s dedication to regular stand-up nights such as Bent Double – the South’s best-loved gay-friendly comedy show, and Comic Boom – a show allowing new acts to perform alongside established comedians on the circuit.

The Chortle awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. As of 2002, the Chortle Awards are the only UK based awards that solely honour the live work of stand-up comedians at a professional level. The judging is done through a panel of judges and the votes of regular visitors at the Chortle website.

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Described as ‘THE place in Brighton to catch stand-up comedy’ by The Independent, and winner of the ‘Best Comedy Venue in the South’ for five years running by chortle.co.uk, the night kicked off back in 1999, scheduled once fortnightly on a Sunday. Compered by Brighton comedy genius Stephen Grant since the very beginning, the first show played to an audience of 40, the second to an audience of 80, which doubled again for the third. The fourth show sold out, as has every show since.

Stephen places the secret of the night’s success at the quality of the acts, “it’s such a quality night as we get the best acts on the circuit to perform. In the past we’ve had Jimmy Carr doing spots and Ricky Gervais filling in on a Sunday! It’s also down to the audience: the Brighton crowd are great and really respectful to the acts!” With over 1000 people attending the club every weekend throughout the year, it’s no surprise that Stephen became the most seen performer in Brighton in 2006 across all disciplines (theatre, music, cabaret), having played to over 40,000 punters at Krater alone.

Speaking of the punters, a lot can happen in eight years, and Krater has seen his fair share of infamous moments – from streakers to punch-ups, Hungarian hecklers to celebrity patronage (Mackenzie Crook stopped by on the first night of his honeymoon before flying out to the Caribbean, and Steve Coogan has been known to drop in from time to time!) – and that’s just the audience. Backstage antics have seen acts paid in vodka, nervous breakdowns, and one comedian’s wife meeting his girlfriend minutes before he was due onstage!

With spots by Brendan Burns, Jeff Innocent, Reginald D Hunter and Mark Watson all coming up in the next few months, it’s clear that the Kronenbourg Krater Comedy Club shows no sign of growing old gracefully, and is all the better for it!